Birmingham dinner lady cleared of assault says she was attacked by child

Karen Jones was a dinner lady at St Edward's RC Junior School in Selly Park

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A BIRMINGHAM dinner lady investigated over claims she had assaulted a primary school pupil has been cleared of any wrong-doing.

And the mum-of-two has claimed the child who made the allegations had actually assaulted her TWICE.

Karen Jones, 49, was suspended from St Edward’s RC Junior School in Selly Park in May after education bosses and police launched investigations into assault claims.

But the case has now been closed.

The former paediatric nurse returned to work as a dinner supervisor at the 400-pupil school earlier this month – but handed her notice in the next day.

Mrs Jones, who had worked at the Greenland Road school for five years, said: “I handed my notice in because the child who made the false allegations has not been punished.

“I was cleared unconditionally and wanted to show my face to show I had done nothing wrong, which I did.

“But I was shocked to find there has been no punishment for the boy. I was expected to go back in there and act as though nothing had happened.’’

Mrs Jones claims she was physically assaulted by the boy at Easter and then on May 21, as he tried to climb over a fence to retrieve a football.

She says she reported the Easter incident to school bosses and then again in May – but she was suspended the next day after the schoolboy claimed he had been assaulted.

Mrs Jones, from Highgate, found out later that the youngster claimed that she had kicked him in the leg.

The allegations, she said, had caused upset for her own children, aged eight and 12.

“I still have one child at the school and my eldest daughter is at secondary school,’’ said Mrs Jones.

“We had a hard time to convince the youngest to even go to school when this all came out. But it is really encouraging that I have had so much support from parents, staff members and even former pupils.”

The former child nurse added: “I am not going to let this stop me from working with children in the future, but it will always be in the back of my mind that this could happen again.

“It’s a lovely school and I liked working there but I couldn’t stay after all of this.”

West Midlands Police said the case had been closed after a thorough investigation.

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: “Following an investigation by the council it was determined that no further action needed to be taken. West Midlands Police has also closed its case.”

The school refused to comment on Mrs Jones's claim she had been assaulted.